New Garage.... plus house

[Ole_Red]

Well after an exhaustive search, my wife and I were finally able to get in on a house. We started our search winter 2011. There were a few homes that we were close to putting an offer in on and then came up with reasons not to. After a year of searching, we put an offer in on a Short Sale. 4 months later and no end in sight, we started to look again. We contacted a family friend who was an agent. 4 houses later we found it. We rescinded our offer on the Short Sale and told them to pound sand.

What we ended up with is a 2-car Detached garage + office and loft area, a 3bdrm 1bth 1300sqft house, and a large yard with apple trees.
The Most Important Part of the whole Deal: Perfect Haven for 2 Studebakers!

Back of yard looking towards house.

Wallpaper will be removed. Plan is to upgrade appliances in next couple years.

Picture of front:

Front carport looking towards the front of the house/yard:

Covered Patio/Deck area that connects the house and garage: We both really like this space, as does our daughter. She will be able to play in the rain, so she tells us!

 

[A1an]

Congrats. Beautiful house!

 

[Rando]

Congrats man. House hunting ***** til you find the one for you

 

[56rpm]

Congrats! Nice looking home. Plus there is plenty of room if you ever want to add on to the house or garage.

 

[Ole_Red]

Thanks everyone. We are really excited. Closing is still a month out though. Inspection was tonight and went fairly well. There were only a few standout issues.

The ductwork in the crawlspace had been knocked down by who ever was down there previously and was never reconnected... essentially heating the crawlspace and not the house. Our inspector noticed rust had started to present itself inside the ducting. We have asked for all the the ductwork to be serviced, resealed (none of it was taped or sealed), and replaced if needed.

The panel was a Zinsco . From everything that I have read and have been told. No further explanation is needed. We are asking for it to be replaced with a new panel.

There rafter that tied the carport in with the gutter and house was rotted out in places. The carport angles back towards the house so that the water from the carport flows back towards the gutter. Easy fix, but we have asked that they maybe replace it.

Everything else looked great. He was really impressed with how well the little old lady took care of the house.

Getting closer!

 

[Ole_Red]

Can anyone give me a rough estimate for the value of the garage? it is 700sqft. has a loft area. poured slab, newer insulated doors. I need to give our insurance agent a rough number.

 

[930dreamer]

Nice find, what part of the counrty- PNW?

 

[Ole_Red]

Nice find, what part of the counrty- PNW?

Seattle, WA. Stoked to find this within city limits.

 

[Falcon67]

Nice find, looks like a great property.

 

[Ole_Red]

anyone able to help out on the replacement value of the garage question?

 

[bearohs]

congrats, i just got a new house as well...lots of painting.. good night I hate painting.

Wish mine had a detached garage..

 

[Ric in Richmond]

Is the agent calculating this for DWELLING EXTENSION coverage?

The garage is part of the dwelling since it is attached by the roof structure and is not covered under dwelling extension, but under the dwelling coverage.

 

[Kevin54]

Location makes a huge difference but around here it would be valued maybe $20-$25,000.00 for a replacement cost.

 

[sam03]

Congrats on the new garage....and house!

 

[GarageEnvy]

Congratulations on the house. You're probably getting an appraisal with your purchase. On the appraisal is a cost approach where you might be able to find the cost to build and probably deduce the market value of the garage. The caveat is that many appraisers fabricate the cost approach out of thin air (even though they will cite Marshall & Swift Cost Service) so it may or may not be accurate. Also, this is different that the insurable value. Also, it's not always required so it may not be completed on the appraisal.

Your insurance agent should have access to all the cost service information for insurable value. Personally, I'd make the insurance agent earn his/her keep but if you want to DIY it then you might consider spending a couple bucks at:

http://www.swiftestimator.com/estimators.asp

 

[tinbender 66]

It looks like your patience paid off big time!! Great place. I'm sure the Studes will love it!

 

[bobemmerich]

All I can is
1) Congrats!
2) NICE!
3) Good luck with the PO doing the needed repairs. Maybe if they knock off some $$$, and you can do it yourself.

 

[Ole_Red]

The PO decided to give us a credit on the repairs. We will be taking care of the duct work and rotted rafter ourselves. We will be hiring someone to do the panel. My wife's uncle said that he would pony up the coin to the purchase of the panel.

Close if is the 20th! We are pretty damn stoked to get in there.

I need to start doing prep work on the 65 for paint, so the garage will be used almost immediately. Going to end up with a matte/semi-flat base with a flaked roof and wheels. The wheels may end up being rattle-bombed to get as close to the roof as possible to save the little extra amount of coin.

We ended up insuring the garage for 25k.

 

[NUTTSGT]

FYI, my agent insured my garage for 10% of the house value plus I added another $30K coverage. Make sure you also have appropriate coverage for the contents of the garage.

 

[Ole_Red]

FYI, my agent insured my garage for 10% of the house value plus I added another $30K coverage. Make sure you also have appropriate coverage for the contents of the garage.

They originally had it marked for 18.5K at the 10% rate. I bumped it up a little bit. I was thinking about bumping it up a little more. I will be sure to have the appropriate coverage on the contents as well.

 

[Ole_Red]

We get our keys on Friday morning. Then a thread will be started.

Inside the garage is a small office that the previous owner built. I dont have a need for an office that I can think of. I am going to be using the garage to work on my cars, not do crafts! lol. So that will be the first change that I make. It is an odd design with a cut out for the front of the car to fit in. Pictures will greatly help me explain this one. It will give me more shelf space and counter surface to work with once it is gone.. not that there isnt ample room already.

 

[bobemmerich]

Again, Congrats! Sounds like you made out pretty good. Keep us posted.